Scottsburg cancels 4th of July celebration

SoVaNow.com / July 03, 2013

The Scottsburg Volunteer Fire Department has cancelled its Fourth of July celebration which was set to begin Thursday morning with the 10 a.m. parade and last throughout the day, culminating in the fireworks display at night.

Organizers said they will reschedule the day's festivities for Saturday, July 27. But for Independence Day, the celebration is off.

The reason: Mother Nature dumped heavy rains over the past several days, with weather forecasters calling for more rain possibly today.

“It would be impossible for us to carry on our festivities,” said Ricky Gordon, chairman of the annual festival. “The fields that we use for parking are saturated with rainwater. There’s two to three inches of rain standing in the fields and there’s no way they will dry out for some time,” Gordon said as he was driving back to Scottsburg through heavy rains yesterday.

The cancellation of the event is a real blow for the fire department since it is the major fundraiser for the department and usually generates $15,000 to $20,000 to help defray operating expenses for the department.

“We hope to be able to host a smaller event, some type of dinner perhaps later in the month, but at this time I have no specifics on what we may be able to do. We will be sure to keep the media and the community advised of any future plans,” he said.